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Rising Star
I have been contributing since I started working. It is super important to contribute if you get company match... it is free money!
Probably older than most folks here... in the twilight of my career... started at the max 12%, + 4% company matching... slowly increases that due to higher limits.. at 18% now.... after 35+ years have hit my target of 15X current gross salary. Think long term folks!
Anyone who doesn’t contribute at least enough to get the full company match from day 1 is a fool. Set your contributions to increase by 1% a year until you max out.
My 401K will be my 3rd or 4th most valuable retirement account and at 18 years in it’s around $550k.
Curious to know how much people do typically contribute to their 401(k), and if they maximize it?
Max to IRS limits and some after tax when I forget to stop after limit
Current job, first contribution was September 2022 and current balance is ~$90k.
I’ve rolled 401k’s from previous employers into IRAs for greater freedom of investment options.
I don’t have any financial planning of my own the company I work for set up a 401(k) for us and contributes like 3% and I contribute like 2% from each paycheck so I only have like $20,000 saved so that’s probably not great
Except for the first couple of years I have maxed it out at every job (34 years).
I've been contributing for 5 years. I've put in as much as I can each year since, maximizing most years. Most of my adult life I didn't have access to a 401k so I've essentially been playing catch-up. Starting at 35 years old, I now have $180k invested.
That’s a pretty good rate! The way it’s going you have no problem hitting retirement.
Contributing continuously since employment at 22. After 16 years of never maxing out but always contributing at least what company was matching, typically around 7-8%, total today is about $450k.
the key is starting young... i started right at 21 with the most i could afford, usually ~$15,000/year. Now i'm 39 and i don't put anything into it because it's fully funded. Meaning the compounding interest will bring it to about 20x-25x my current salary by the time i retire.
What multiple are you at today? And isn't the goal to be a multiple of your salary at retirement?
Been contribute for 3 years and max out 401k every year, and company match 6%. TC 110 so living paycheck to paycheck lol. 401k balance 83k. I feel in on track since i have decent real estate and 401k.
You don't have to live paycheck to paycheck if you make $110,000/year, even if you're contributing $23k to your 401k.
started when I went full time at my current job back in 2017. I was contributing 5% at the time (with a 100% company match at 3% and a 50% match for the remaining 2%). I've since moved it up to 7% and am currently sitting at $46,000. I am 36 and know I am WAY behind. I try to increase it 1% when I get a pay raise every 2 years.
Early 50s, it recently peaked at $1.7m. It would be a lot more if I hadn't been so conservative the last decade. I started when I was 20, but I was in a low paying job and only put in 5% those first years. I didn't get a big salary jump until I left for another company after 8 years at the first. Been maxing out per IRS limits for over 15 years. Mostly pre-tax, with a few % Roth, to reduce current tax liability. That is a whole other discussion... it didn't reach $100k until the mid 00s. My first plan had to recover from the dot com bust where I wasn't paying attention. The upside of being conservative is that I didn't lose much in 2008. Shame on me after.
I've been maxing it out since I entered the workforce
This info is mostly useful as a function of multiples of salary
I haven’t touched the 401k in a while. Would rather do my own investments. I will take the taxes to be able to access my funds before I’m 60. But I was able to put in 50k in less than 2 years when I started working
Do you use an HSA? The triple tax advantage of those is pretty good and you can withdraw at any time which I choose to use even while not making contributions to my 401(k).
With working at danfoss power solutions I done ok with my 401k. I am not a millionaire, but I am over 30k now.
I’ll bring it up next time I talk about politics and religion.
People chat about money here pretty frequently. It’s good to get in the habit of being able to discuss finances. The taboo on talking money is an old generation habit used to exploit under paid employees.
My wife and I have been contributing since we started in 2004. Been maxing it out since 2013. Between us we are well on track along with other savings and investments. Should be able to retire at 55.
Started contributing in 2016 when I graduated from college and got a salaried job. Have contributed the annual maximum from 2017 onwards (was $18k, now up to $23.5k). Current balance is about $366,000 after ~8.5 years which I think is on track so I'm happy with it.